Kosuke is 31, and tired of his hometown where nothing happens. On a whim, he departs for New York with dreams of making it big. 6 months later, he straggles home... defeated, and saddled with debt. Awaiting him are his old friends, a caring sister, a disgruntled father ...and a bowl of noodles. Namely, "udon" noodles. The town is built around udon, sustained by udon, nationally famous for udon.
Direction
Motohiro balances slapstick with genuine melancholy
Practical Effects
Actual udon-making footage — food porn before it was trendy
Writing
Co-written by Masayuki Qusumi of 'Bayside Shakedown'
Director
Katsuyuki Motohiro
Yusuke Santamaria
Kosuke Matsui
Manami Konishi
Kyoko Miyagawa
Tortoise Matsumoto
Shosuke Suzuki
Kyoka Suzuki
Mari Fujimoto
Takeshi Masu
Masanori Otani
Jin Katagiri
Kenjiro Mishima
Jun Kaname
Kazuya Aoki
Fumiyo Kohinata
Ryoichi Fujimoto
Katsumi Kiba
Takutomi Matsui
Tohru Emori
Sayoko Ninomiya
Hiroyuki Morisaki
Hideki Nakano
Munenori Nagano
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot on location in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan's actual udon capital — locals still run 'Udon Taxi' tours featured in the film.
The film gently mocks Japan's 'boomerang generation' — college grads who fail in cities and return home, a growing social phenomenon in 2000s Japan.
JP
